Etymologically
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occupatio

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:48. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔk.kʊˈpaː.ti.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ok.kuˈpat.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

occupātiō f (genitive occupātiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from occupō “to seize, occupy” with the suffix -tiō.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of business, and Cicero, of seizing possession.[2] Köbler dates the Rhetorica 86/82 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant taking possession, seizing, occupying, as Cicero's occupātiō forī, which Lewis and Short call very rare in this sense.[2][5][6] In Cicero it meant close attention to a subject, and in the Rhetorica ad Herennium business, employment, an occupation.[2] In rhetoric ante occupātiō meant forestalling an objection.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant occupation.[7] British Medieval Latin used it for the seizure of land or goods and for usurpation.[8] It survives in Italian occupazione and French occupation, and Old French gave English occupation in the early 14th century, “fact of holding”, and by the mid-14th century “employment”.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of business.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of seizing possession.[2][4]
  • early 14th century – English occupation is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Seizing, occupation.[2]
  2. Close attention; business, employment.[2]
  3. (rhetoric) ante occupātiō, forestalling an objection.[6]

Word family

  • anteoccupātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press